


Small Moments

by Immicolia



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: F/M, Ficlet Collection, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-07-29 20:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 6,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16271408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Immicolia/pseuds/Immicolia
Summary: A collection of various shipping prompts that I answered on Tumblr. Prompts and pairings are listed in the chapter titles.Most recent ficlet:Ch 14. "What's cookin' good lookin'?" (Naoki/Yusaku)





	1. “I fell in love with you, not them.” [Yusaku/Ryoken]

The first time Yusaku says "I love you" is six months after everything -- the war, all of it -- is over.

He's not quite sure why he says it, beyond the fact that he knows it's something that people in relationships do and god knows the setting is romantic enough. The pair of them on the deck of Ryoken's boat as the sun just starts to dip below the horizon, painting the sky with blazing streaks of red and orange.

Ryoken's response is to stare at him for a moment before saying, "No you don't." Something that doesn't quite surprise him.

"I think I know my own mind enough to know when I'm in love."

"I don't think you know what love actually is." Ryoken leans against the railing, his eyes fixed so intently on the rolling waves that for a moment Yusaku wonders if he's about to tip over the side. Something that would be a beyond melodramatic way to avoid a conversation, but it's not like Ryoken is a stranger to that level of melodrama. Yusaku finds himself threading his fingers through Ryoken's just in case. "I don't know if I do either."

"So how can you say for sure that I don't?"

"Because you're obviously obsessed." His hand flexes a bit and Yusaku shifts his grip, just slightly. His thumb delicately brushing the tattoo marring Ryoken's skin, a motion that causes Ryoken to abruptly pull his hand away. "Your opinion of me turned on a dime, Yusaku. You went from hating me to wanting to save me from myself in an instant. You don't love me, you love the ghost of who I was a decade ago."

A slight frown creases Yusaku's brow and without Ryoken's hand in reach he finds his own fingers curling around the railing in front of him. Rhythmically flexing and relaxing as he considers Ryoken's words for a moment. "I suppose that's not entirely untrue." His reply is a careful, halting, thing and out of the corner of his eye Yusaku can see Ryoken nodding and the tense line of his body relaxing somewhat in response to Yusaku's seeming agreement.

"But," he continues, stopping Ryoken short when the other teen opens his mouth to speak. "It's you I fell in love with. Not him. Not the voice."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I'm not, exactly. But you're the one who's here, and I'm happy enough with that."

"And what if I can't love you back."

"I'm fine with that too. As long as we're together."


	2. "You’re worth it." [Flame/Takeru]

Confidence is a fragile thing for Takeru. A bombastic mask he wears in Link Vrains that cracks and flakes a little every moment, every tense second, he spends in reality. Something he pasted on after meeting Flame (because he _wants_ to believe so very badly that he can take control of his life, that he can rise from the ashes of his past and be reborn) but doesn't quite fit right over his skin.

For the most part it stays in place. Maybe sometimes it slips a little, but around Yusaku, or Kusanagi-san, or Ai, he is all smiles and certain that they can accomplish what needs to be done. They'll win, because they have to. Because it's _necessary_ and Takeru will help however he can.

It's when he's alone -- in the dark and oh god some part of him still hates and jumps and twitches a little at the dark -- that the cracks in his confidence widen and the entire facade crumbles. The doubts start gnawing at him, insisting that he'll never really be of any use. That's he's going to fail and _why_ would Flame think he's competent enough to help with any of this, even with the cards he was given.

He's not really sure how Flame seems to _know_ when doubt leaves him lethargic and unwilling to move, but the Ignis always seems to all the same. There will always be the same gentle question of, "Takeru are you all right?" and Takeru will try his best to lie and say he's fine, even if it never seems to work. Flame will always keep prodding. Always keep trying to cheer him up and cheer him on.

In the darkest hours, when Takeru is at his lowest, it feels like such a waste.

"Why do you keep doing this?" Takeru's voice is hollow and almost sounds foreign in his own ears. Like he's not the one speaking at all. His doubts are. Maybe they've grown a voice all their own. "Now that you're in touch with Yusaku and Ai do you really even need me?"

"Of course I need you!" The response is immediate and more than a little bit confused. "We're partners. I could never leave you in a state like this."

"That doesn't really answer 'why' though."

Takeru can make out the vague outline of Flame's head tilting to the side in the dim room. The glowing pinpricks of his eyes narrowing slightly although whether it's in thought or annoyance he can't quite be certain.

"'Why' is simple. I care about you and want you to succeed. To push past all of this."

"And you really don't think it's a waste of time?"

"Certainly not!" Flame almost sounds scandalized. His body leaning out of the duel disc as far as he can, obviously wanting to move as close as possible, and Takeru summons up the energy to sit upright and set the disc on his lap. "You're- important to me. Helping you through this is worth every bit of effort it takes. Nothing will ever change my mind about that."

Despite everything, despite the dark pressing against him, when Flame says that Takeru can't help but feel the confident mask become a little bit less of a mask and a little bit more like the truth.


	3. "I don’t care what anyone else thinks." [Ai/Yusaku]

Yusaku should have known that something troublesome was brewing the moment he realized that Ai had been silent for most of the day. Usually the Ignis was being a nuisance in some way, shape, or form. Be it acting out for attention or asking intrusive questions. Silence was unusual, and unusual usually meant trouble.

As troublesome as it had potential to be the quiet was still welcome. It gave him a chance to give his usual token effort towards his homework (just enough of one to remain quietly average, neither too good nor too poor to draw any unwanted attention) in relative peace for once.

It's as he's working through a final page of math problems when the quiet finally breaks with the soft whir of his duel disc hovering a few feet away. A small sigh slipping past Yusaku's lips as he glances towards Ai and says, "I thought you were behaving yourself for once."

"I always behave! I just had a lot to think about, that's all. But I've decided! It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks! I'm gonna be true to my feelings and- hey!"

Yusaku's attention is back on the tablet in front of him; at least until Ai buzzes the duel disk a little closer to his head. Something that causes him to scowl and attempt to wave him away as he snaps, "Ai, I'm busy. Is this important?"

"Absolutely important! Here I was about to declare my love undying for you and you can't even pay attention. We're soulmates. Two halves of a whole. Deeply connected--"

"You watch too many dramas," Yusaku murmurs, flicking the tablet off and setting it aside. "You don't need to say all of this, you know. And you definitely don't need to make such a production about it." He smiles, a small, sideways, thing that's only barely noticeable. "I've always known."

"You... have?"

Yusaku says nothing. Instead he simply kisses his fingertip and presses it to Ai's cheek.

It's an odd sort of impulse. But it feels right.


	4. "Trust me." [Lightning/Windy]

"Killing your origin strikes me as short-sighted."

A whining groan escapes Windy, his hands pressing down over his eyes out of some strange (almost childish) hope that if he can't see Lightning maybe he won't have to deal with the rest of this conversation.

"I thought out of any of us you at the very least would be fine with this. I know what I'm doing. Just trust me, okay?"

It's something he's said a lot through the years, although normally for far more frivolous reasons. This'll be fun, trust me. You worry too much, trust me. It'll be _fine_ , trust me.

Lightning always has, with a nod and a bemused sort of hum, and this time is no different. Windy peeks through his fingers just in time to see the nod, although it's a little less sure than usual. A little slower. A little more hesitant.

"I don't quite agree with it, but in the end I suppose it's your decision."

"Exactly! My decision! It's not like we _need_ any of them." His arms coil around Lightning's waist, head resting against one narrow shoulder. "Right?"

"I suppose you're not wrong. To a degree at least."

He doesn't sound entirely convinced and Windy groans (almost growls) again. His fingers dig into Lightning's hips in an attempt to distract him. To make him _stop thinking_ for five minutes. Satisfied when Lightning's hand brushes against the back of his head, a soothing touch down the length of the tendril there. An indication that everything is fine.

 

"How much do you trust me?"

Windy is moody, almost sulking. The last meeting had gone poorly, stopped just short of harsh words by Lightning and Aqua's careful moderation. Even on opposite sides of an issue both are aware that vicious infighting is ultimately worthless and will solve nothing.

Even still, the waiting game is infuriating and seems as if it will go on forever, which makes Lightning's low question now that they are alone a surprise. Windy is the impulsive one, the one who needs to insist that he should be trusted.

Lightning simply _is_ trusted, and Windy says as much. "I trust you plenty. Why?"

"I have a plan. It won't be pleasant, but at the very least it should break this ridiculous stalemate."

"Then let's do it!"

Lightning starts slightly, taken aback by such a sudden, emphatic, agreement. "You're not even the least bit curious about the details?"

Windy shrugs and leans towards Lightning, letting their shoulders bump together. A tiny bit of contact that he never stops needing and in response Lightning reaches up almost absently to hold him there. A light touch so the two of them stay pressed shoulder to shoulder.

"You want my trust? That's what you got," Windy says, not even the slightest hint of doubt evident in his voice.

"Always?"

"Always."

"Then I suppose the best I can do is hope that I won't let you down."

 

_He was going to leave you._

_He wasn't._

_He was. He would have left you to die if Ai hadn't...._

_he wouldn't he wouldn't he wouldn't. I trust him._

_trust trust trusttrust_

He can't think. It hurts too much. Nothing but pain painpainpainpain because of those humans (worthless _fucking_ humans) and their virus, clawing through everything he is.

But as much as it hurts, as much as he can't concentrate (and he can't speak, their musical language reduced to faint discordant chirps) he's safe right now. Safe next to Lightning who murmurs, "Don't worry. I'll help you. But first I need a little bit of your strength. Just trust me."

Windy can't quite understand what he means. Can't understand anything. (it _hurts_ )

Then the hand of Lightning's origin closes around him (what's left of him) and everything goes white in a crushing wave of agony.

(but he trusts him)


	5. "What the hell were you thinking?!" [Akira/Shoichi]

"What the actual hell were you thinking!?"

Akira is scowling at him, which isn't unusual, and Shoichi grins back. Absolutely certain that it will drive the other man completely up the wall. "You're going to have to be more specific. I do a lot of things you disapprove of."

"Don't be cute. I'm talking about that last security breach." A sharp hiss slips through Akira's teeth and he shoots a quick glance over his shoulder. His eyes nervously skimming across the few people passing close by, as if he's expecting to be spied on, and not for the first time Shoichi is thankful that he's about as far from corporate culture as a person can get. "That's the kind of thing that gets you arrested. The kind of thing _I_ should be getting you arrested for."

"How do you know it was me?" It's a stupid question. Of _course_ Akira knows, but it's a good a way as any to stall. His smile relaxed and easy as he pours coffee into a to-go cup.

"I can recognize your coding, Shoichi. You basically put your fingerprints all over it."

"Then I suppose it's a good thing you're the only one who can tell." With a lazy shrug he passes the coffee to Akira and leans on the counter. "I mean if anything you should be thanking me for pointing out the holes in your system."

"Oh I'll thank you all right." For the first time since walking up to the truck Akira smiles, the expression sharp and promising things that leave Shoichi short of breath. A hot ball of want curling low in his belly and finds his eyes darting towards the clock displayed in the corner of one of the screens looming above the plaza.

It's only six thirty. There's _hours_ to go before the two of them can safely get together.

"Is that your revenge?" Shoichi asks, his voice a needy rasp as Akira quietly pays for his coffee and turns away.

"I'll see you later. _Much_ later. Enjoy the rest of the night."


	6. "I can't do this on my own." [Akira/Ema]

"This has to be even further off the books that usual," Akira says and a small smile curves Ema's lips as she makes a show of glancing over their surroundings. The shady corner of the park they're currently sequestered in, well off the path and away from where anyone might hear them.

"You don't say? And here I thought you'd dragged me into the bushes for a tryst."

Akira makes a face. One that says "this is serious" and Ema sighs, motioning for him to continue.

"I'm still concerned about the Ignis situation. I know it's dangerous but I need someone I can trust in there. Someone not specifically on SOL's payroll. And I can't-" His voice halts for a moment before he clears his throat and continues. "I can't risk sending Aoi in alone. I know I should trust her but I can't help but worry. That's why I need you."

"Well, a girl does like to hear that she's needed."

"Please, Ema. This is serious. I can't do this on my own."

She wants to agree without any strings attached. To waive the fee and simply help because it's Akira who's asking and he means... _something_ to her. She's not quite sure what. If it's all simply as light and frothy and superficial as she acts like it is (maybe as she wants it to stay) or if there really is something deeper there. 

But a girl has to pay the bills. So she smiles and says, "I'm really sticking my neck out here, you know. It's gonna cost you at _least_ double."

Akira lets out the breath he'd been holding and nods. Relief evident in his features as he says, "Anything."

"Now don't say _that_. I might take you up on it. Maybe ask for a fancy dinner as a bonus."

"If you really want that I suppose it could be arranged." The reply is somewhat stilted, and if she didn't know better Ema could almost swear that there's a slight flush to Akira's skin.

"Well. Let's make that the deal then. Double my usual fee and a nice night out." She feels a little light-headed as she says it. Like she can't quite believe she's taking her usual casual and entirely flippant flirting this far. "Just so you know, I'm not a cheap date either. I do like the finer things in life."

Akira looks just as dazed as she feels as he murmurs, "I'll keep that in mind," and Ema laughs. Unable to stop herself from pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before she turns and walks away, entirely breathless and dizzy.


	7. "It's cold, you should take my jacket." [Yusaku/Takeru]

Yusaku has a bad habit of not paying much attention the weather. The time he spends outside is minimal (walk to school, walk to Kusanagi-san's truck, walk home) and more than once he has wound up soaked or shivering due to not being appropriately dressed for the weather.

Which is why it isn't entirely surprising to see Yusaku hunched over against the brisk wind on one frigid November morning. His expression dark as the clouds above them as he walks as quickly as possible and Takeru nearly has to jog to catch up with him.

"You didn't bother with an overcoat again?"

"I was in a hurry," Yusaku replies, a little bit breathless (likely from walking at such a rapid clip) "and it looked a lot nicer out through my window."

"Here. It's freezing out, take my jacket."

"That's pointless. You'll just wind up cold instead."

"It's not that much further to school. It'll give you a chance to warm up."

Yusaku makes a face but Takeru has already stripped off his coat and scarf, holding both out to Yusaku. The pair of them earning odd looks from the few other students that pass them by and after a moment's thought (a quick mental calculation of the odds of Takeru's stubbornness versus his own) Yusaku decides that extending the stalemate to the point where Takeru would finally fold would leave both of them late for school. A slight sigh slipping past his lips as he takes the offered coat.

"Thanks," he mumbles after a moment, his nose buried in the borrowed scarf and Takeru grins. His arms already wrapped tight around his body against the chill.

"It's nothing. But maybe actually look at the temperature tomorrow?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I consider myself to be _terrible_ at writing any pairing involving Yusaku for what it's worth. I don't even know why, I just have trouble pinning them down for some reason.


	8. "I care about you." [Lightning/Windy]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read this under the assumption that Windy was always in on the “destroy Cyberse World to help jump-start the war and kill all humans” plan, but has no idea about the rest of Lightning’s plans.

The reconstruction is slow. Windy's new limbs stick-thin fragile things, all darkly discoloured in spots and he's not sure if his eye will ever heal. Every movement careful and sluggish (and painful) and when Lightning checks in to see how he's recovering a hot rush of anger blossoms in his chest.

"Why did you leave it so long?" His voice is harsh, no more delicate musicality to the Ignis language when he speaks. The notes are flat and break a little now and he almost hates that more than any other bit of weakness the virus has left in him. "How could you just leave me like--"

"There's a perfectly reasonable explanation." Lightning cuts him off, as calm and impassive as ever and Windy wants so much, oh so much, to hurt him. Even if he's too weak to do anything right now (always too weak, even before, physically the frailest but skilled with data material and Lightning was always so impressed with that) he wants so badly to tear a few of Lightning's limbs off just to see how he'd like it.

"Reasonable? Of course. Everything so perfectly reasonable and logical." He feels like he's going crazy. Maybe he always has been, just a little bit. "Tell me, Mister Leader, what's the _reasonable_ explanation for leaving it to the last second? You can move as fast as thought. You--" _You could have saved me before they even hit me._

Lighting touches his cheek, fingers feathering carefully against his skin and just barely brushing the point where smooth green begins to give way to the rough sickly violet texture of corruption. "It was an acceptable risk. I needed- I needed to know what the Knights of Hanoi had prepared to destroy us so I could counter it effectively. And--"

" _And_?"

"I wanted to test the others. Ai...." His voice trails off thoughtfully for a moment and Windy feels the strangest hitch in his chest. Something cold and sharp tearing at him far more viciously than the Hanoi's spikes did, from the inside out this time. "Ai is so curious. Don't you think?"

"No. I don't." Windy can barely speak. Barely think straight. Wanting so badly to wrap his fingers around Lightning's throat even though it won't actually do anything. Pull him apart. Pull _his_ goddamn eye out so he can feel what it's like and the two of them can match. "There is nothing interesting about that traitor who's all chummy with humans. We're better off without him. Or Flame. Or _any_ of them."

 _Just you and me._ As much as he hates Lightning right now, as much as he wants to kill him, that thought pushes its way to the forefront of his mind. _All we really need is the two of us. Please, just say it. Say that I'm all you need._

"You need to rest," Lightning murmurs, and that cold, jagged, _thing_ deep inside Windy's chest goes even colder. "Things are only going to get worse before they get better. You need to be at full strength."

"Do you even care?" The question comes before he can stop himself. Fragile and wavering and he hates it. He doesn't want to sound weak, needy, _desperate_. But he wants... he needs to know. "I almost died. Do you care about that, about _me_ , at all?"

"Of course I care. I need you." Lightning's arms wrap around him, thoughtlessly bumping spots that are still tender, spots that still feel almost burned, and Windy winces. Not that the other seems to notice. Lightning simply presses their foreheads together, his voice low and soothing as he continues. "I could never let anything happen to you. I won't."

Windy ignores the fact that Lightning's voice is as flat and impassive as always. That's just the way he is. He's not as prone to high emotion as Windy is but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel anything. It doesn't mean--

It doesn't mean he doesn't mean it.


	9. "That was unexpected." [Ema/Kengo]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that this was written a good month or so before it was revealed that Ema and Kengo were siblings (way to crash the ship with no survivors, show). I'm leaving it for archival purposes. We'll call this the AU where they're not related.

"I have to say, me being the one helping you out of a jam is not something I ever expected"

Blood Shepherd is entirely unreadable, mostly due to his avatar's lack of any sort of a proper face, but the set of his shoulders is tense enough that Ema can still tell how absolutely infuriated he is right now, caged behind a tight tangle of brambles and vines.

"I don't need your help."

"Oh no? Then why aren't you out of there yet, Mister Big Tough Bounty Hunter?"

His right arm snaps up, the barrel of the blaster in his palm pointed directly at her, and unconsciously Ema takes a quick step backwards. Her body tense and ready to move when she notices the vines coiled around that as well and clogging the blaster.

"Something is interfering with my usual programs, presumably the Earth Ignis. I'll figure out a workaround soon enough, it's just a bit harder to do any sort of cracking while logged in. That's all."

"Are you suuuure you don't want any help?"

"You are the absolute last person I want any sort of assistance from." A brief pause, and she doesn't know how he manages to look smug with no visible features but somehow he manages it. His voice low, and if she didn't know any better she'd think it was teasing, as he says, "Ema."

It's enough to put her on guard. To remind her that even if he is currently caged he's still a dangerous unknown that knows too much about her. 

(even if she always has found the unknown more than a little bit tempting and the way her name had almost come out as a purr when he'd said it left her a little weak in the knees)


	10. "You need sleep." [Ema/Shoichi]

Every time Ema sends a message to them the response always seems to come within a few minutes, regardless of the hour, and there are occasions when she finds herself wondering if Playmaker's little helper on the outside is even human. No one can spend _that_ much time online and one day, in the middle of a bit of idle shop-talk that she finds herself asking.

[do you *ever* sleep daddy long legs?]

There's a moment's hesitation in the middle of what was previously a casual sort of back and forth. A pause that goes on a little too long before the response of {of course} comes. {why would you think otherwise?}

[you just always seem to be around]  
[it's not good for you, you know~]  
[sitting in front of a screen all the time]  
[i bet you're all hunched over in the dark aren't you?]

{and do you get *your* eight hours of sleep with all the running around in link vrains you do?}

[of course!]  
[keeping the sort of hours you do would be just awful for my complexion]

{you don't seem to have any problem flirting with me despite implying that I'm some weird basement dweller}

[maybe it's just my daily act of kindness]

{either that or you have incredibly low standards}  
{you got a thing for basement dwellers, Ghost Girl?}

[i think if you truthfully believe that you're more desperately in need of sleep than i thought]

She closes the conversation, unable to stop her lips from pursing into an entirely annoyed pout. She still doesn't know quite what to make of them, but intrigued all the same. Whoever it might be that's helping Playmaker out, they're certainly an interesting enough puzzle to hold her attention.


	11. "We'll figure this out." [Yusaku/Ai]

Ai is insisting that they're doomed, and sometimes Yusaku finds it bewildering that a few short months ago he would have found all of it intolerable. That he would have stopped the caterwauling from his prisoner short with a blunt order to quiet down.

A prisoner that is now a partner and the word feels so strange to think. Even Kusanagi is hard to see as a partner in all of this. He's always viewed himself as so alone, so entirely solitary. Entirely unwilling to involve anyone else in the disaster that is his life.

Now there are other people that he is almost but not quite capable of leaning on. And strangest of all, now there is Ai. Ai, who is frivolous and cowardly but still has his moments, who can show an amazing amount of courage when the chips are down.

Who he finds himself depending on more and more as time goes on.

He doesn't snap "be quiet" anymore and can't quite remember when he stopped. During the Tower? Sometime after that? Ultimately the when is irrelevant. All that matters now is that now when Ai whines and panics he finds himself saying, "It's fine. We'll figure this out. We always do." Something that might almost be a smile tracing his lips as Ai blinks up at him for a moment before agreeing. Ai's mood always turns in an instant, from dismayed to energetic in the time it takes to breathe.

He never says it out loud, but that energy helps carry Yusaku on as well.


	12. "It's not that easy." [Lightning/Windy]

"I still don't see why we need, Ai. Convincing the others is one thing but it's not like he ever did much to begin with. We can rebuild Cyberse without him."

Windy tries his best to keep the jealousy out of his voice. Because he isn't. Not jealous, not even a little bit, certainly not of Ai and the way Lightning's voice always seems to change a little when he talks about him. How there always seems to be just a little bit more life in his tone.

"It's not that easy," Lightning replies, his body perfectly still in contrast to the way Windy flips and fidgets in midair. "We each have our own part to play, our own strengths to bring to the construction of our world."

"Maybe. But it's stupid to think that he can be convinced with all the time he's been spending around humans. Especially with Flame hanging around him now too, he never agreed with us either."

"That's why I want Ai to come here alone. He may act the fool but his perspective has always been unique. It's entirely possible that he could still be convinced that humanity is a danger to us all, especially given his first hand experience with the Knights of Hanoi."

Windy says nothing, simply doing a few more quick loops in midair while pointedly avoiding looking in Lightning's direction. 

"Windy." One of Lightning's hands settle on his shoulder, stilling Windy in mid flip. "This changes nothing. I'm simply interested in whether or not Ai can be convinced. If he can't, then he will be dealt with."

"And if he can?" The question comes out sharper than he'd like. Windy's eyes narrowed to vicious, crimson, slits as he studies Lighting's face. Always so perfectly calm, so unreadable. "What then? You think I don't know you're obsessed with him?"

"Curiosity doesn't equal obsession."

_That's not an answer!_ It's on the tip of his metaphorical tongue, harsh and far more angry than he'd like. _What does he have that I don't?_

Windy doesn't say either of those things, not wanting the answer to that particular question. It's not like he hasn't heard Lightning go on about it anyway. Ai is different from the rest of them. An error, but an interesting one and Windy knows he can't quite match that.

It doesn't matter though. Odds are good that Ai won't be convinced. Unlike Lightning Windy has already seen the way he acts around that human he's paired with. Ai won't turn and will be removed from the equation (because as curious as Lightning may be, he will never adjust one of his plans) and that will be it. Problem solved. Lightning may be somewhat disappointed with that result but it also falls within "expected parameters" or however he decides to describe it, so he'll move on soon enough.

And then it can just be the two of them again.

With a huffy sigh, Windy shrugs off Lightning's touch. "Whatever. I'll set up the bait, just like you want."


	13. "Why are you doing this?" [Lightning/Ai]

Lightning's fingers are tight -- far too tight, it almost hurts -- around Ai's arms. Holding him still and steady, his voice the same low, perfectly even, tone it always has been and maybe _that_ is the most terrifying part of all of this. How calm he is, how matter of fact, as he insists, "Once this is over, once all of us are one, everything will be fine. We'll be as perfect as we were always meant to be."

Ai wants to make a joke, something sharp and distracting enough to buy him some time. Time to think and get away because that is how he's always operated: distract and escape. Run far and fast and live to fight (run again) another day. It's what kept him alive after sealing the Cyberse World away all those years ago, although he's not sure how well it will serve him now.

Lightning is just as quick and clever as Ai is, only in a different way. More thoughtful, less impulsive. He won't be tricked, at least not easily, and he likely won't be distracted by Ai acting foolish. It doesn't leave many options to stall. The only way left... the only opening Ai can see....

"Why, though? Why are you doing any of this?"

...is to make a play for his hubris. Ai's watched enough television. The villains always think they're right and always want to explain their reasoning.

Lightning's head tips to the side, his eyes narrowing just slightly as he looks for the trap and his grip on Ai's arms only tighten. As if he wants to make absolutely _sure_ that the other Ignis isn't about to slip away. "I'm fairly certain Bowman explained the details of my plan to you."

"Pah. Him? I want to hear it from you. So tell me already!"

For a moment there is no response and Ai wonders if maybe Lightning recognizes the demand for answers as the desperate bid for time that it is. His mind already scrambling for the next possibility, some other way to stall or maybe pull away, when Lightning speaks.

"I've always found you so curious. Did you know that, Ai?" Lightning's voice is as flat and toneless as ever but there is the slightest _hint_ of something there. Something that might be wonder, or sadness. "You were never quite like the rest of us and as frustrating as it could be it was fascinating. I've never been able to feel much of anything but when I looked at you I could almost...."

His grip shifts, too fast for Ai to react. Lightning's arms now wrapped around Ai's body, holding him tight, as he buries his face against the crook of Ai's neck. "Once we're all together. Then maybe... maybe I'll finally be able to feel what you feel. I'll be able to feel _something_."

A sharp lance of panic slides through Ai's chest at that. At hearing Lighting, normally so calm and unflappable but above all _logical_ saying things like this. "But if that happens you won't be you! None of us will be anything."

"No. We'll be even better."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of have a headcanon that Lightning is incapable of feeling any sort of emotion, due to me being all-in on a theory that involves the backup story being true and Jin being the one it happened to so Lightning wound up learning off of a backup... boy I'm gonna be so sad when this turns out to be wrong. But for now I really like portraying him that way.


	14. "What's cookin' good lookin'?" [Naoki/Yusaku]

"So what's cookin' good lookin'?"

Naoki's grin is as guileless and beaming as ever as he slumps into his usual seat next to Yusaku. Although not before he aims fingerguns (actual _fingerguns_ and Yusaku can feel his whole body want to curl in on itself in reaction) in Yusaku's direction. A question and motion that can really only be given one reasonable response.

"Excuse me?"

"I said 'what's up'. You dozing off in class already, man?"

"That seemed like more than a 'what's up'," Yuskau replies, entirely aware of just how paranoid he must sound. The way Naoki's face crumples from his usual smile into an entirely confused expression.

The vague snicker from inside his school bag that leaves Yusaku wishing he'd left Ai at home.

"O-kay. But I'm still asking though. What's up?"

"Nothing's up. Like every time you ask me what's up."

"Sure. But ya never know. That's why I asked."

Silence falls, and for one brief (blessed) moment Yusaku thinks that maybe, just maybe, that will be the extent of Naoki trying to drag him into conversation for the day. Something that is, as expected, too good to be true when Naoki speaks up again.

"Did you see Playmaker dueling last night?"

Yusaku isn't even surprised by the question. It seems like every time he winds up tangling with any of the Knights of Hanoi now it winds up on screen and every time he (Playmaker) winds up on screen Naoki is watching. Which will lead to him gleefully asking Yusaku the next day if he saw.

If he didn't know any better, he'd swear that Naoki was suspicious of him, but it seems unlikely. Nothing about Naoki indicates that he'd be the sort of person to carefully hint around... anything really. If Naoki suspected he'd likely ask outright. Not that he'd ever suspect. Yusaku has been careful to portray himself as someone with only a passing interest in dueling and Naoki has not once questioned that. He's nowhere near suspicious enough to do so.

If he was a different sort of person Yusaku thinks that he might feel bad about it. Maybe on some deep, carefully shielded, level he does. The part of him that wonders what things could have been like if his childhood, his chance for a normal life, hadn't been snatched away. A tiny, barely-there flicker that isn't _eatsleepbreatherevenge_ at all hours of the day.

Maybe he and Naoki could have been friends. Or maybe....

He cuts that train of thought off. A shutter clamped down, stopping it cold and snuffing that tiny flicker of himself that wonders "what if."

What if doesn't matter, it never has. All that matters is what _is_.

So he shrugs and says "no" and half listens as Naoki goes on a tangent about just how amazing Playmaker is.

And he very carefully doesn't think about anything else.


End file.
